Safety-indicator for railway-wheels.



No. 663,077. Patented Dec. 4, I900. P. A. HABTE.

SAFETY INDICATOR FOB RAILWAY WHEELS.

(Application filed Aug. 27, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT @EEICE.

PATRICK A. IIARTE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY-IN DIICATOR FOR RAILWAY-WH EELS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 663,077, dated December 4, 1900.

Application filed August 2'7, 1900. Serial No. 28,186. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK A. HARTE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at San Francisco, county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Indicators for Railway-Wheels; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved means of detecting flaws or injuries to the flanges of railway-wheels while they are in motion.

My improvement consists in a series of adjustable rollers that can when the wheels are in motion be instantly moved into contact with the flanges thereof in such manner as to communicate by feel to the hand of an operator any imperfection of the flanges, as when a piece of the flange is broken out.

The object of my invention is to guard against the derailment of railway-carriages, especially those for passengers, by imperfection of the wheel-flanges, which is the most common cause of such accidents.

To these ends I provide apparatus, as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the drawings herewith, forming a part of this specification.

Figure I is a side elevation of a portion of a passenger railway-carriage provided with my improved apparatus for detecting flaws in the wheel-flanges. Fig. II is a plan or top view of the principal parts, showing the manner of mounting the same. Fig. III is an enlarged edge view of the operating-rod and means of holding the same in position when out of use. Fig. IVis an enlarged front view of the operating-rod, and Fig. V an enlarged top view of one of the rollers and a stud on which it is mounted.

Inspection of railway-carriage wheels by sounding them when stationary discloses cracks and some other defects of astructural nature, but will not indicate clean breaks of the flanges, and as a portion of the wheelrims is obscured by the truck-frames and other parts'visual inspection is not possible, especially at night. To obviate this impediment and to render inspectiop complete, I provide a series of simple rollers A, adapted to bear upon the wheel-flanges B by means of a pivoted bar (J, fulcrumed at Q on the truckframe M. This bar 0 has vertical members F and G, on which are mounted the rollers A, one for each wheel, standing normally out of contact therewith, as indicated in Fig. I. The bar 0 has an extension H that reaches back to the platform I, and connected thereto is an operating-rod J, that extends upward to a point conveniently reached by a person standing on the platform. The rod J slides in a bearing K and when in its normal position is locked by a pin L, as shown in Fig. III, and holds the rollers A out of contact with the wheel-flanges B. A handle N is provided for moving the rod J and is made short in length to avoid obstruction in passing the platform I.

The rollers A are made of metal, wood, or any other suitable material and when out of contact are set so far above the flanges B as not to contact by action of the carriagesprings.

To provide for the swiveling motion of the truck, I provide, by preference, a movable joint at T, where the bar 0 and rod Jare connected, consisting of an elongated eye U on the end of the rod J, so the end of the bar 0 can move laterally therein.

The application of my invention is as follows: When the wheels are in motion and it is desired to test the flanges, the pin L is withdrawn and the bar 0 is pushed down ward, bringing the front roller A in contact with the flange B of the wheel P. This communicates to the hand of the operator the least imperfection in the rim of the wheel P. The bar C is then drawn upward and the rear roller A bears on the rim B of thewheel R, indicating any break or imperfection, as before. This operation consumes but a moment of time and gives assurance of the integrity of the wheel-flanges or the reverse.

It will be understood that my invention is applicable to the wheels of locomotives, passenger and freight cars, or in any case where there is danger of thederailment of railwayvehicles by broken flanges. It will also be understood that while I have shown a simple and practicable manner of applying my invention the several parts will require modification to adapt them to circumstancesas,

confine myself to a particular method of mounting and moving the rollers A; but

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a railway-vehicle, a roller movably mounted above the wheel flange or flanges, adapted to be thrown into contact with said Wheel-flange, and means leading upward to a point in the car within convenient reach of an operator, whereby the said roller can be applied at will to or removed from contact with the wheel-flange, substantially as specified.

2. In a railway vehicle, a pivoted bar mounted on the truck near the wheel-flanges, a roller or rollers carried by said bar, adapted to come into rolling contact with the wheelfiange, and a rod extending from said pivoted bar upward within convenient reach of an operator on the car, substantially as specified.

3. In a railway vehicle, a pivoted bar mounted on the truck, rollers mounted ori said bar directly over the wheel-flanges, a rod attached to said bar extending upward through the car-platform, by which said rollers can be applied to or removed from the wheel-flanges, and means for holding said rollers out of contact with the wheel-flanges, substantially as specified.

4. In a railwayvehicle, a pivoted bar mounted on the truck, rollers mounted on said bar directly over the wheel-flanges, a

' rod attached to said bar extending upward through the car-platform, by which said rollers can be applied to or removed from the wheel-flanges, means for holding said rollers out of contact with the wheel-flanges, and means to permit lateral motion between said rod and said pivoted bar, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PATRICK A. HARTE.

Witnesses:

ALFRED A. ENQUIST, ELMER WIOKES. 

